


Dreams Are Dangerous

by squidt0fu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, also cat kuroo is the greatest thing ever, and dorky acrobat lev, hinaken friendship is my aesthetic, kenma is best friends with all of the setters basically, oh the ghost kids are the same, so are the "other parents"
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 05:27:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7421713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squidt0fu/pseuds/squidt0fu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kenma moves away from Tokyo to an old house owned by Hinata's mother, he feels bored and neglected by his parents. He finds a small door that leads to a world where he's given anything he wants, and he doesn't have to worry about being around other people. But, for a world so perfect, there's sure to be catch... Isn't there?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreams Are Dangerous

**Author's Note:**

> Only after watching Coraline for like the 567893th time did I think of this AU. Also Taffy drew some fanart for this fic... (http://taffydesu.tumblr.com/post/142346504349/dreams-are-dangerous-a-coraline-x-haikyuu-au) so go check it out!!

Rain poured on the ground like drums. It was rhythmic, really. Dark grey clouds hid the sun's light and darkened the sky. The car they were riding in was tight and cramped; a muscle could barely be moved. Within a few minutes a dull pink atrocity, shockingly bland, came into sight. The grand house--"Pink Palace"--was not the sweetest sight for the eyes. Faded pink paint was peeling all around the sides and the molding was chipped and broken. A moving truck followed close behind, backing up to the front door and stopped parallel. Furniture was being moved into the house by large, bulky men. The back door opened and Kenma emerged, fully dressed in a yellow raincoat and rainboots matching while staring down at his PSP.

His feet lead him down a marshy walk; mud sloshed against his boots each time his feet hit the ground. A bush obstructing his path was pushed away by his bare hand, to his unawareness. The cast iron gates before him clatter in the wind as Kenma releases the one he'd pushed open. He passed through the barren garden, glancing around at how dead and grey it looked.

Kenma's feet carry him up a long dusty path, now muddy and wet, when suddenly a clatter of rocks spooks him. His head darts to the side where he faces a rock wall. He leers at the area where he'd heard the noise. Glancing quickly at the ground, he picks up a stone he spotted and hurls it upward at the source. A raspy yowl startles Kenma and makes him run away from it. He runs up the slippery hill as swiftly as possible, trying not to fall down, mud squishing and squelching against the pressure of his boots.

Kenma finds himself leaning against a rotten old tree stump surrounded by toadstools. He fixates his eyes on his phone again when another sudden noise sends a jolt of anxiety down his spine as the sound approaches him, coming closer. Kenma leaps out of the way just before the object can hit him, resulting in him sliding on the mud and falling backwards in the toadstool circle.

Kenma's eyes widen at the sight before him. A creature wearing a birdskull mask stands before him. Kenma shudders, full of fear at the intimidating sight. He scoots back against the stump, staying on the ground and covered in mud. The masked being looked over Kenma's small body. In a panic, Kenma picks up a stick next to him and hits the mask as hard as possible. The attacker yelps in pain as its mask falls to the ground. "AAAAAH!!" The person falls backward in a fright as Kenma now towers over them.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?" Kenma threatened his attacker with the stick. His attacker flinches at his threat.

"St-stop, stop!" His attacker waves his hands in front of him, removing them from covering his head and revealing outrageously bright orange hair. The being in front of him turned out to be human, much to Kenma's relief, and a boy at that.

"You're... Who are you?" Kenma asks, gripping the stick tightly.

The boy in front of him sits up and wipes his muddy gloves on his pants and holds out a hand. "I'm Hinata! Hinata Shoyo!" His smile is blinding and it makes Kenma actually squint his eyes a little. Kenma apprehensively takes the filthy glove in front of him and gets his own hand dirty. He doesn't particularly care but wipes his hand off on his raincoat anyway. "S-So, what's you're name? I see you've got a game there, but we don't really have that up here. Mostly, you know, wilderness."

"It's a PSP and I'm... Kozume... Kenma," he says meekly. "And I don't like being stalked by weird people." Kenma cocks his head along with the black cat that had perched itself on the stump next to the boy, Hinata. "Is that your cat?"

"S-Sorry... and no, he's sort of feral; you know, wild? I do give him milk every now and then, and sometimes he comes in through my window, brings me little dead things." Hinata says lovingly as he strokes the cat's messy hair. The cat's eyes focus on Kenma. "His name is Kuroo, by the way." Kuroo, the cat, pads over to Kenma and rubs his head against Kenma's leg. Kuroo purrs as Kenma strokes the cat's silky smooth fur. He uses his fingers to scratch behind Kuroo's ears and the cat playfully bites Kenma's hand and chomps on it. 

"By the way, you're standing on the old well, you'll fall right in." Kenma steps backward a little bit, holding Kuroo in his arms. Hinata steps forward a bit and bends down to wipe some mud on the ground. Hinata looks at a stick on the ground near the well. He jams it in a crack in the ground and pries up an old wooden cover, revealing the old well. "I'm guessing you're from, like, a city?"

"Tokyo."

Kenma averts his eyes and Hinata continues talking. "But, y'know... I'm surprised she let you move in." Kenma is speechless and questions Hinata's statement. "Ah, my mom owns the Pink Palace... she won't--rent to people with kids."

"Why not?" Kenma inquires.

Hinata suddenly looks worried. "I'm... not really supposed to talk about it--"

"Sho-chan!! Sho~o-cha~an!" A voice calls out Hinata's name.

Kenma hears the distant voice. "I think I hear someone calling you, Shoyo."

"E-Eh? I don't hear... anything--" Hinata stutters anxiously.

The voice calls out again. "No, I definitely heard something, Sho-chan." Again, the voice rings. Hinata gasps, "Mom!" Hinata quickly hops on his bike, slipping his mask back on and, glancing at Kenma, says, "I-I gotta go!" and rides back to his house.

Kenma and Kuroo the cat stare at each other. Kenma drops his head to the side and Kuroo follows suit. There is a long silence before Kuroo looks like he's smiling as he trots off in Hinata's direction. Kenma watches the cat leave him. He glances back at the wooden plank separating him from certain death. He steps over to the old well and drops a rock through a small knot-hole in the plank. He presses his ear to the wood and, after a few seconds, hears a distant plip. Rain began to fall again all around Kenma.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kenma is up somewhat early--he thinks--the next morning. "Um... I almost fell in a well yesterday... Mom?" Kenma was lining up packets of seeds along the windowsill. His mother was tapping away at her keyboard. "Hey, Mom... Can I go outside to garden?"

Kenma's mother's eyes were filled with skepticism. "It's pouring outside, Kenma."

"Rain is good though..." Kenma pouted. 

"No, Kenma. Rain makes mud. Mud makes a mess. And anyway," his mother glanced up from the screen for a split second, "Why do you want to go outside to garden?"

"I'm just... Bored. My charger is broken, so I can't use my PSP anymore..." Kenma sighs. His mother rolls her eyes. "And didn't we move here so we could grow things?"

"Yes but then, we had the accident." His mother points to the brace around her neck.

"I wasn't at fault for you hitting the truck..." Kenma mutters under his breath.

"I never said it was."

"But Mom, you and Dad get paid to write about plants, yet you hate dirt."

Kenma's mother actually starts to get annoyed. "Kenma, you still have unpacking. Lots of unpacking."

"What fun..."

"Oh by the way..." His mother remembered, "A boy came by earlier to give you something."

Kenma picks up the small package and reads the attached note. Hey, Kenma! Natsu had this in her room... Look familiar? --Shoyo. He unwraps the thin paper, revealing a doll that looks almost identical to him; it wore rain boots and a raincoat and had Kenma's same hair, along with black button eyes. "A... little me...?"

"What was his name?" his mother asks.

"Hinata Shoyo. I'm too old for dolls..." Kenma sighs once again and leaves the kitchen to find his dad, whom he found after wandering down the hallway. "Um... How's the writing going... Dad...?" Kenma asks meekly, his father ignoring his presence in the room. Kenma coughs a couple times and his dad lets out a heavy sigh.

"Hello, Kenma..." he says when he notices another reflection in the window. "And... Kenma doll?"

"Um... The gardening tools..." Kenma pauses as the rain continues pounding outside. "Do you... know where they are...?"

His father listens to the rain outside while continuing to type. "It's pouring out there."

"It's just rain, Dad," Kenma states dryly.

"And what did the Boss say?" His father smirks a little bit.

"Don't even think about it, Kenma!" he says in mockery.

"Then you won't need the tools."

Kenma sighs loudly and hangs on the door, moving back and forth causing it to squeak. His father eventually gives in and turns around. "You know this house is a hundred fifty years old." Kenma raises his eyebrow in question.

"So?"

"Go explore!" his father says while grabbing a notepad and pen, "Count all the windows and doors... mark down everything that's blue. Just let me work," he begs.

Kenma lets out a long breath and leaves the room to saunter back into the hallway. He spots a bump in the carpet and jumps on top of it causing it to simply move to his left. He repeats this until finally it splits two ways. Kenma sighs once again in resignation and stares outside through the misty windows. Wiping a circle for himself and his doll to look through, he scratches down on his notepad: 7 leaky windows. A drop of water hits the paper and smudges the writing. He squeezes in between the 7 and leaky windows: really.

Kenma finds himself back in the hallway near the stairs, the carpet's bump returning to ridicule him. He stomps on it and does the same up the stairs.

A picture is in his parent's room on the bedside table; a picture of him smiling with his parents in front of the Pagoda when they went to Ueno Zoo in Tokyo.

The bedroom door opens with Kenma hanging on it, still holding onto the doll Shoyo had left for him and his notepad. He drops off the door and lands softly on the ground. Bathroom... Kenma glides down the hallway until he finds the bathroom. He steps in and pulls back the mildew-rotting curtain only to reveal hundreds of silverfish bugs slithering about.

Kenma squeals with disgust as he manages to crush a few of them. "Eww..." He turned on the faucet hoping to wash his hands, but is suddenly only to get soaked with dirty rusty water. "Ahh!" Kenma shrieks as he shakes out his pudding-colored hair.

Kenma pounds down the stairs and spot the bump once again in the carpet. He bounds off the stairs and smooths out the carpet, only to open a closet door behind him. Seeing the light on inside, Kenma goes over to investigate it. Kenma jots down on his notepad one rusty water heater. As he leaves he flicks off the light switch, not noticing a note taped beside it that says: Do not turn off! Kenma flinches at the ceiling as the lights flicker.

In his room, Kenma's father stares wide-eyed at his computer when it suddenly dies. He yells. "No, no, no, no, no; GAAAAAH---!"

Kenma reacts with guilty alarm, running back to the closet and noticing the Do not turn off note. He flips the light switch back on and slips out of the closet, quietly shutting the door behind him and skulking away.

Kenma wanders around some more and finds himself in the living room. The room, faded and cold, has bare windows looking out on rain and grey. There are moving boxes strewn across the floor, a few pieces of furniture, and an old Nordic Track belonging to Kenma's father. Some of the garden tools lean against one while, a mattress in the corner next to it. Kenma steps around a bit and counts the windows and doors to note on his pad. He sets the doll he had been carrying around the whole time down on a low table beside an open box. The box is filled with Kenma's mom's collection of snowglobes. The edges of his mouth curve up slightly. Kenma takes out his favorite--the five-storied Pagoda at Ueno Zoo--and shakes it lightly. He examines the globe and sighs with homesickness. He sets it very carefully on the fireplace mantel, scared that he's going to drop it, unwraps the rest of the globes, and places them all beside it. Over the mantel hangs a painting of a boy in blue--a scoop of ice cream on his shirt and his hand holding an empty cone. Kenma takes up his pad and pen and scribbles down on his notepad while muttering aloud, "One blue boy in a painfully blue painting... four windows... and no... more... doors," Kenma says, reaching for the doll he'd left on the table. He's surprised to find that it's disappeared.

"Where are you hiding?" Kenma continues. Scanning the room, he spots the doll looking out from behind the mattress box leaned against the corner wall. Perplexed, he walks over and kneels down to grab the doll when he notices something on the wall behind the box. He shoves the box aside, discovering the outline of a small door that's been wallpapered over.

"Huh...?" Kenma calls into the kitchen. "Hey, Mom..." When he doesn't hear a reply, he continues, "Where does this door go?"

"I'm really, really busy!" His mother yells.

Kenma tries opening the door but there's no handle. "Hey, Mom, please?" His mother finally gets up and walks over to him. She looks at the outline of the door in the wallpaper, ratty and old.

"Will you stop disrupting me if I do?"

Kenma nods his head quickly and stares at her with big eyes, like a cat.

"Fine," his mother resigns. She heads back to the kitchen. Pulling open a drawer, Kenma's mother pushes a bunch of brass keys and nickel keys to the side to find a small, sharp black key. She holds it up.

Kenma's mother returns and cuts the wallpaper around the door, sticking the key n the lock. Kenma looks on, giddy with anticipation, doll at his side. His mother turns the key, unlocks the door, and pulls it open to reveal...

An unbroken brick wall.

Kenma grunts with disappointment. "Bricks? I don't get it..." Kenma scratches at his wrist rash with annoyance.

"They must have closed this off when they divided up the house," his mother says and gets up to leave.

"You're kidding... Why is the door so small?"

Kenma's mother turns back around, looking irritated. "We made a deal. Zip it, Kenma." His mother leaves and Kenma makes an annoyed grunt.

"You didn't lock it," Kenma calls. He hears his mother yell with frustration. He pushes the little door shut, head lowered.

The rain is pouring outside and Kenma's father is singing a song about him--badly.

"Oh, my twitchy witchy boy~" His father sings while he takes a burned-up casserole dish from the oven while his mother closes her laptop. Kenma sits at the table with his doll, forced to listen.

"I think you are so nice,

"I give you bowls of porridge,

"And I give you bowls of ice--" his father continues his awful song as he sets the dish down on the table. "Cream!" His father finishes, off-key.

Kenma pushes his food away with disgust. "Mom, why don't you ever cook?"

Kenma's mother sighs. "Kenma, we've been through this before: your Dad cooks, I clean, and you stay out of the way."

Kenma huffs.

"I swear I'll go food shopping as soon as we finish the catalog," she continues. She points at Kenma's plate with her fork. "Try some of the chard, you need a vegetable."

"It looks more like slime to me," Kenma retorts.

Kenma's father laughs. "Well, it's either slime or bedtime, fusspot--now what's it going to be?"

Kenma looks to his doll, cradling its head. He whispers to it, "Think they're trying to poison me?" He makes the doll nod "yes." He rolls his eyes and climbs up to bed. He undresses from his usual clothes and puts on his pajamas. He falls back on his pillow. It's still pouring outside. Kenma puts his doll on the chair beside him and scratches once more at his wrist. He has origami dragonflies strung between his bedposts; the turtle shell he'd gotten in the garden sits up on a box, his night lamp that projects stars and moons is warming up on the bedside table. The volleyball his teammates had all signed and given to him is next to his lamp. He reaches for a photo resting on a toy cat by his night lamp.

He looks longingly at the picture of his volleyball team posing in the gym, a banner behind them that says "Goodbye, Kenma!" He traces his fingertips along the photo. "Don't forget about me..."

He puts back the photo, hits the light switch over is bed and, looking over at the doll, sighs. "Good night... little me..." His breathing slows.

With the doll watching him, He starts to fall asleep.

An eerie mist swirls out his window. Something in the room makes a squeaking sound, and Kenma sits up quickly, fully awake. Something chitters under his bed and he hangs over the side head-first, peering underneath. Suddenly a ghost-white kangaroo mouse jumps out and grabs Kenma's phone that's on the ground charging. Kenma panics as the mouse bounds out the door with his phone.

Kenma chases after the mouse with slow pacing, down the upper hall, snapping on the lower hall light. He sees the mouse hop into the living room. Kenma follows suit. The mouse edges out from beneath the sofa and, with its tail wrapped tightly around Kenma's phone, hops frantically toward the small door behind the wallpaper. Kenma runs and dives, but the door is open a crack and the mouse escapes with his phone.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I'm really sorry but I haven't updated this in MONTHS because there's a certain something I need for the next chapter :))) As soon as I get it, I'll update!! For now kudos and comments are really appreciated!! Thanks for reading _(:3」∠)_


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